Lauren Blakely's Once Upon a Sure Thing ARC Review

I want to thank Lauren Blakely and InkSlingerPR for the advance e-copy of Once Upon a Sure Thing.

Once Upon a Sure Thing is out today!!

From Goodreads: “It’s so easy being best friends with a gorgeous, talented, charming guy.

Said no woman ever. Except me.

My friendship with Miller is a sure thing — he’s my plus one, my emergency contact, and my shoulder to lean on. He’s also been by my side helping me raise one helluva awesome kid who’s the center of my world.

Nothing will change our easy breezy friendship. Until I have the bright idea to convince him to start a new band with me.

Trouble is, our sizzling chemistry in the recording studio is getting harder to ignore, no matter how risky it might be.

***

Sing sexy songs with the woman you’ve been lusting after? Get up close and personal as you croon to the woman you’ve wanted for years?

Piece of cake.
NOT.

Performing with the sweet, sassy and insanely wonderful Ally is like one gigantic obstacle course of challenges for my libido. And my libido is one sexy love song away from kissing her senseless and taking her home.

But, I’m not a serious kind of guy, and she’s not a one-night-stand kind of woman. If we cross the horizontal line, we might risk our sure thing and end up out of tune forever…”

You cannot go wrong when picking up any novel from Lauren Blakely. She consistently pumps out amazing NA reads. Her latest series, The Heartbreakers has been such an entertaining ride, so far. I gave both the first book in the series and this latest installment, four stars out of five.

Below I break down my review into the components I value most in my reading experience:

Characters: Ally and Miller were both great protagonists. Many of Lauren’s previous books were written from just the male’s point of view, but I always love a good dual view. It really illuminates when both characters are thinking similarly, but are just miscommunicating with one another. Also, Ally was an Audiobook narrator, and that was just a cool touch cause I have never seen that job done in a book before.
World/Setting: New York City. Always a classic city to set an NA Romance, never disappoints.
Pacing: Lauren Blakely paces extremely well. I can finish them in only a few hours, which make them such fulfilling reads.
Romance (yay or nay?): The best friends to lovers to relationship trope, such a classic, but always so good. As I mentioned previously the dual points of view really elevated the journey the characters went on as the reader knew exactly when each character realized they were falling in love, but also the flip side of the characters refusing to admit their feelings to each other. Good angst is always appreciated.

If I haven’t convinced you yet, check out this excerpt:

“~Miller~

She sings like a sinner. She sings like an angel. She sounds like whiskey and sugar. I’ve only ever known her for her church-bell voice, but now she’s a glorious mix of dirty and sweet, and I never knew she had it in her.

But I can’t marinate in this change-up. It’s showtime for me.

Grabbing the mic, I dive into my first line as I gaze into those blue eyes of my friend. Only I have to think of her as Honey, so I sing to the new woman about how I can’t do without her, how I need her now.

Something is in the air between us when we sing, something charged. Something that hasn’t been there before. Stage chemistry.

I move closer as if I’m drawn by the pull of gravity that I have no control over. We lock eyes and everyone else fades away. I’m still in shock that I’m loving singing a song with my best friend.

That’s what terrifies me. Especially since we sound good together, and we move well together.

Maybe we even look good together, as we belt out this hot-as-fuck duet, and for the first time we’re not butchering a holiday tune or destroying “Total Eclipse of the Heart” at karaoke. As she moves closer to me, we sing the final chorus like it’s going out of style, and when the music softens, I can’t resist. I finger a strand of her blonde wig, the coconut scent from her lotion floating into my nose.

Reluctantly, I let the hair fall.

Clapping rings loud in my ears.

Jackson, Miles, and Campbell give a standing O. Jackson holds up his phone, pointing to it, letting me know he caught it on video.

“Chemistry,” the guys all shout, practically in unison.

But I’m not supposed to have chemistry with my best friend.

That’s the problem.

“What the hell just happened here?” I whisper to Ally, befuddled.

Her mouth opens, and her eyes go wide, and she blurts out, “I have an appointment. I need to go.”

She takes off, leaving in her wake a trail of chemistry and coconut and confusion.”

Get your copy today…

Kindle ➜http://mybook.to/ASureThing

iBooks ➜http://blkly.pub/iASureThing